34 ON SOME SPECIES OF CERASTIUM, 
tomy C. pumilum The first variety is founded on C. gracile, De" 
but this form is included in the type C. pumilum, with herbaceo 
bracts ; it should therefore be excluded either as a species or variet - 
dthe name given 28 it by Dufour should be placed in the general 
synonymy of the spec 
‘** The second faciety 3 is a plant from the environs of Bordeaux ; it 
is os by its broad and entirely herbaceous ‘Sige by its 
aricated stems and panicle, and above all by its flowers, of 
which aa are tetramerous ; asverthalnes the plant has neither the 
form nor the other characters of C. tetrandrum, Curt., which, separated 
from its allies, may be re-established as a species 
**In accordance with the above semearks,: the following is the 
sao and Seay ee of C. pumilum, Curt 
Ppumitum, Curt., Fl. Lond. 2, tab. 92 (177 iv: rok oe 
(1828), et Herb. N., fasc. 4, no. 54! (non H. B. K.) ; C. obscurum, 
be b. Fl. Agen., 180, tab. 4 (1821); C. semidec eee Pers. Syn. 7 
p. 521, non Lin. (1805) ; Lois. Fl. Gall, ed. 1, p. 271 (1806); C. 
sieinaiiies Lois. in Pers. Le., et Fil. Gall., ed {: r4 271 (1806). et ed. 
; C. Prod 
panicle: Leaves obovate. Bracts erbaceous, or with a very narrow 
scartous border. Pedicels 1-2 times longer than the calyx, curved at 
the top, horizontal or subr antes occasionally erect. Sepals lanceo- 
late, herbaceous, or with a scariou margin, particularly at the summit, 
which is glabrous. Petals prank or exceeding the calyx, especially 
in the earliest flowers. Stamens 10; filaments glabrous. Capsules 
twice as long as the calyx. © April, Ma ay. 
“a. genuinum. Plant dark green ; bracts herbaceous. 
“ B. pallens, Plant light green; bracts with a Loar scarious 
pe ire — Schultz, cent. 1, "no. 16, et Intr., p. 6 
litigiosum. Petals twice as long as the calyx. C. Litigionun, 
De ia in Lois. Fl. Gall., ed. 2, vol. i, p. 823; C. Lensei, Schul 
Arch., 24, et cent. 1, no. 17! 
“3. intermedi “This 
um. is the var. a. with tetramerous and pen- 
tidpaveiie flowers on the same plant. 
“ Hab. seed slopes, dry meadows, sandy ground ai ree 
e var. y.in the Bois de Bou een pre 5. sandy d 
neat the sea, Bor Meo Teste, ete.” —(Pp. 4 49.) Pore 
Now if w carefully examine this description of C. pumilum, we 
find that in jack it fits both C. pumilum, Curt., and C. tetrandrum, 
Curt., except in one character given, which is not correct as applied 
—— of smote ecies, viz., ‘sepals herbaceous or with bra- 
oe T . form of the bracts is not given. The 
stem is very meagre; its mode 
= not meee nor 1s that of the panicle. The - 
